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September 21, 2011

REM Calls It A Day - After 31 Years

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."

14 comments:

R.E.M. - three letters. WHO - three letters - infinite reunions. Could be another conspiracy here. Just kidding.

I'll never forget the summer of 1993 when I discovered the "Green" album. I think I'd heard "Superman" when it came out, and even had it on a compilation tape I'd made - but didn't know who it was - imagine my surprise when I started digging into their discography.

Found this while fact checking: The Clique - (I Am) Superman (1969) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g-O4FntXPs

I found REM through summer camp, Out of Time was well received. The kids I went to camp with prefered Document and Green to OOT. I later got all their albums on cassette from BMG. I found Life's Rich Pageant to be a favorite along with Chronic Town. Those two stand out as my all time faves. Begin the Begin and Superman highlight the top of the list from that album, while I love every track from Chronic Town, especially Wolves, Lower and 1,000,000.

Glad I got to see them in Toronto in 1995. Monster is not my favorite album, so that tour was bittersweet for me, I would have prefered at that time to hear more older material. Luscious Jackson opened for them.

I was 12 when the "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" video came out. That was my intro to REM. A kid endlessly sifting through old junk in the middle of nowhere. I could relate. And the chorus just added to that strange feeling we kids of the 80s were brought up with--that one day the missiles would launch and the world would be over.

So many people say CIN was a return to form. It sounded more natural than Accelerate, but Stipe's lyrics are pure shit -- and they ruin most of the music. I was going to write about the album shortly after it came out, but never got my notes together.

We saw them on successive Fridays, I believe, Halloween 1986 and then in NYC at Felt Forum. Saw them at Radio City in October 1987 on the Document tour and then at the Meadowlands (or Brendan Byrne?) on the Green tour in 1989. I think I was disgusted enough at that time to not see them again! On the next tour, I think they decided to stop playing their old stuff so much.

Jesus Christ, did I hate Green back then!!! First LP for Warner Bros., and I thought it was the worst piece of sell-out crap ever! (Plus it came out on Election Day 1988. Boo.) I interviewed Stipe and Berry when Out of Time came out in 1991 - which was cool - and I was beyond thrilled a few days later when I spoke to their producer Scott Litt on the phone and got him to admit that the band had consciously tried to write commercial-sounding songs for Green. It was some kind of personal vindication!

And the chorus just added to that strange feeling we kids of the 80s were brought up with--that one day the missiles would launch and the world would be over.

I would never have said that imminent nuclear war was a pervasive fear in the mid-to-late 80s. The very first hint I have ever heard of that is Jere's comment. It certainly was not a topic of alternative music in the US (unless I'm blanking on a lot of music).

Plus, the chorus of the song is so upbeat - it was often played as the band's final song of the night - a big celebration. Certainly not a dirge or anything scary or ominous.